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FORESTRY 
IN HAWAII 



Why the practice of Forestry is an 

economic necessity in the 

Hawaiian Islands. 




By RALPH S. HOSMER, 

Territorial Forester. 







FORESTRY IN HAWAII 

In Hawaii the forest is a prime factor in 
the maintenance of economic prosperity. 
Water and wood are fundamental needs in 
every community. In Hawaii this is even 
more true than on the mainland. Essential- 
ly a country dependent on agriculture, suc- 
cess in Hawaii may justly be said to rest 
on the right use of water. Because of its 
geographic position and the conditions of 
climate, topography and soil that character- 
ize the islands an assured water supply is 
a vital necessity. To insure a sufficient 
supply of water for irrigation, for power 
development and other economic uses, and 
even for domestic supply requires that the 
forest on all the important watersheds and 
catchment basins be protected and perma- 
nently maintained. A dependable supply 
can only be obtained with the aid of the 
forest. Hence it follows that forestry has 
come to be practiced by the large owners 
of private lands and by the Territorial Gov- 
ernment. 

The importance of the forest is generally 
recognized in Hawaii and has led to a strong 
public sentiment in favor of forestry. This 
finds expression in a Territorial Forest Ser- 
vice, the Division of Forestry of the Board 
of Agriculture and Forestry, an office carried 
on by technically trained men, who are 
charged -with the creation and administra- 
tion of forest reserves and with the prose- 



cution of other forest work. Hawaii is one 
of the eleven states in the Union to employ 
a professional forester. 

During the past five years under a definite 
forest policy systematically followed, twenty 
forest reserves have been set apart, with 
an aggregate total area of 545,764 acres 
(July 1, 1909). Of this area 357,180 acres, 
or 65 per cent, is land belonging to the Ter- 
ritorial Government. The other 35 per cent, 
is in private ownership but for the most 
part the owners of the lands, fully aware 
of the benefits of forest protection, cooperate 
actively with the Territorial Government 
in the management of the forest. It is esti- 
mated that eventually, about three-quarters 
of a million acres will be included within 
forest reserve boundaries, of which about 
70 per cent, will be Government land. 

There are three main types of forest in 
Hawaii; the Koa and Ohia forest lying be- 
tween the elevations of two and six thou- 
sand feet; the Mamani forest, found on the 
upper slopes of the higher mountains; and 
the introduced Algaroba forest, which occurs 
at the lower levels on the leeward side of 
each of the larger islands. 

The typical Hawaiian forest is of the first 
type. The forest consists of a dense jungle 
of trees, high growing shrubs, tree-ferns and 
climbers, with much undergrowth and a 
heavy ground cover of ferns and bracken. 
Altogether it is a plant community admir- 
ably adapted for the conservation of mois- 
ture, for preventing erosion and for serving 
as a reservoir to feed the springs and 



streams that rise within its bounds. The 
most important trees are Ohia Lehua 
(Metrosideros polymorphs) and Koa (Acacia 
Koa) . The forest in all but one of the forest 
reserves is of this type. The Koa and Ohia 
forest covers approximately 1,175,000 acres. 

Above the level of the Koa and Ohia for- 
est, on the slopes of Manna Kea (elevation 
13,825 feet) on the Island of Hawaii, is found 
a nearly pure stand of another native Ha- 
waiian tree, Mamani (Sophora , clirysophylla). 
This forest occurs in a belt lying between 
the elevations of 6,000 and 8,500 feet. The 
area of the Mamani forest on Mauna Kea 
is 63,500 acres. Mamani occurs elsewhere 
in the Territory but does not at the present 
time form what may be called forests. It 
is, however, spreading rapidly so that in 
future years it will play a much larger part 
than it does now. Mamani makes excellent 
fence posts, for which purpose the trees in 
the upper forest belt are cut for local use. 
Otherwise this type of forest is unimportant 
commercially. 

The Algaroba (Prosopis juliflora) is the 
Mesquite of the American Southwest. This 
tree was introduced into the Islands in 1837. 
It has now spread so as to cover between 
fifty thousand and sixty thousand acres be- 
low an elevation of 1000 feet in the lee- 
ward districts of the larger islands of the 
group. It is spreading rapidly along the 
leeward coasts and is also gradually climb- 
ing to a higher elevation. The Algaroba for- 
est is the largest single source of fuel sup- 
ply in the Territory. It is estimated that 



over 3,000 cords are sold annually in Hono- 
lulu. The price varies from $12 to $14 a 
cord, delivered. The Algaroba forests are 
further of value because the pods make 
good stock feed and also because the tree 
is one of the important plants locally for 
bee food. It is estimated that for the calen- 
dar year 1907, the total amount invested in 
apiaries and other equipment for the manu- 
facture of Algaroba honey was $125,000. and 
that the gross receipts for Algaroba honey 
products for the year were over $25,000. 

The forests of Hawaii are readily divided 
into two main classes, which have been 
termed respectively the "water-bearing for- 
est" and the "commercial forest". Both are 
of economic value: one because it helps 
to conserve water; the other because it is 
a source of wood and timber. The forests 
of the former class are by far the most im- 
portant in the economic life of the Terri- 
tory. They are as a rule situated on the 
windward slopes of the mountains on each 
island that intercept the moisture laden 
clouds brought in by the Northeast trade 
winds. By serving as a protective cover 
on the short, steep watersheds the forest 
helps materially to make the water of use 
to man, for in Hawaii the relation between 
watershed protection and the availability of 
the streams for use. is peculiarly intimate 
and direct. Water is the most valuable pro- 
duct of the water bearing forests. Conse- 
quently the form of management indicated 
for this class is the one that will cause the 
forest to yield the largest possible quantity 
of water, delivered in as regular a flow as 



possible. Because of the character of the 
Hawaiian forest, this means that for the 
most part this class of forest must be treat- 
ed as a "protection forest", from which fire, 
animals and trespass shall be strictly ex- 
cluded. Only by managing it in this way 
can the forest be made to render its full 
duty to the community. 

The forest problems of Hawaii are essen- 
tially those of conservation rather than of 
commercial utilization, but the second main 
class of forest — the commercial forest — is 
important locally because of the steadily 
increasing demand for wood and timber and 
also because of the fact that transportation 
charges materially increase the cost of con- 
struction timber and the other wood pro- 
ducts that have to be imported. The com- 
mercial forest is of three kinds; the native 
Koa and Ohia forest, the introduced Alga- 
roba forest (of which mention has already 
been made) and the forest plantations of 
trees of economic importance that have been 
planted artificially. 

The two Hawaiian woods of commercial 
importance are Koa and Ohia Lehua. Both 
are heavy, close-grained hardwoods. Koa 
is used for interior finish, furniture, cabinet 
work and veneering. It is now sold in the 
markets of the American mainland under 
the name "Hawaiian Mahogany". Ohia is 
valuable for railroad ties. The systematic 
lumbering of this class of Hawaiian forest 
began in October 1907, when a contract for 
Ohia railroad ties was made between a local 
company and the Santa Fe Railway. Both 



the Koa and the Ohia forests of the commer- 
cial class are found in the leeward districts 
on the Island of Hawaii, where owing to the 
remarkable porosity of the soil there are no 
permanently running streams and where 
consequently water shed protection becomes 
unnecessary. 

The fact that none of the native trees in 
Hawaii furnish construction timber has led 
to extensive tree planting, both by the Ter- 
ritorial Government and by private interests. 
This work has been going on for the last 
thirty years and is constantly increasing in 
extent and importance. The trees principal- 
ly planted are several kinds of Eucalyptus, 
the Australian Ironwood and Silk Oak and 
the Japanese Cedar. Wood and timber cut 
from the planted forests in Hawaii is now 
being used for fence posts, railroad ties, 
bridge timbers and wagon work. Practically 
all the construction timber now used in 
Hawaii is imported from Puget Sound and 
Northern California, mainly Redwood and 
"Northwest" (Douglas Fir). 

For these reasons an important phase of 
forest work in Hawaii is the introduction 
into the Territory of trees of economic value. 
Many excellent kinds have already been 
secured and have become established. Much 
more work remains to be done both in intro- 
duction and in forest planting, for there are 
considerable areas of waste land throughout 
the Territory that can only be made pro- 
ductive by being brouglrt under forest. The 
Division of Forestry maintains nurseries to 
supply seedling trees at cost price for forest 
planting and stands ready at all times to 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

tree planting is 002 831 202 7 

a fact that cannot but make for the in- 
creased prosperity of the Territory. 

Protection from fire is afforded the forests 
of Hawaii by a forest fire law enacted by 
the Legislature of 1905 that provides strict 
penalties in case of damage resulting from 
the careless use of fire and establishes a 
forest fire organization. Under this law a 
corps of influential citizens has volunteered 
as District Fire Wardens. Since the enact- 
ment of this law there have been no fires 
of any consequence. This it is believed, is 
due in large measure to a better public senti- 
ment, resulting from the agitation of the 
subject. 

In Hawaii then the forest has an import- 
ant part to play in the domestic economy 
of the Territory. Primarily of value as a 
protective cover on the watersheds of the 
streams needed for economic use the forest 
contributes directly and in a vital way to 
the prosperity of the islands. In a less pro- 
nounced but nevertheless important manner 
the forest contributes to the welfare of the 
community by producing wood and timber, 
while through the introduction of valuable 
exotic trees the forest cover is gradually 
being extended over areas of otherwise un- 
productive land. The province of forestry 
in Hawaii is to care for the existing forests 
in such a way that they shall be of the great- 
est service to men and to extend the forest 
area wherever the wisest use of the land 
is the growing of trees. 



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